Scientist in Development of Nanoscale Acoustic Tweezers for Mechanobiology Applications 100% position for 4 years, earliest starting date: 1 January 2021 The Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI) at the University of Basel invites highly motivated Your position Mechanobiology addresses the crosstalk between the mechanical function of cells and the biochemical reactions that drive them. Some key examples include the separation of sister chromatids by the spindle apparatus during cell division, reorganization of the cytoskeleton in somatic cells under mechanical stress, and transformation of fibroblasts into stem-cell like states due to physical confinement [1]. Yet, in spite of being fundamental to cells, intracellular forces remain poorly resolved. This is due in part to a lack of non-invasive methods that facilitate such measurements. We aim at conducting such experiments by using nanoscale ATZs utilizing acoustic radiation pressure [2,3]. Different from optical tweezers, ATZs exploits density differences within a specimen to manipulate small particles and cells in liquid, and reaches submicron spatial resolution at acoustic frequencies of 0.1-1 GHz. Developed ATZs will be applied to study the impact of mechanical deformation of intra-cellular organelles in-situ; for example, deformation of the nucleus by monitoring the accumulation and import of nuclear localization signal (NLS), which cells use to recognize protein cargoes destined for selective uptake into the cell nucleus via nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) [4], that will also probe nuclear leakage during nuclear deformation and rupture. This highly interdisciplinary project takes advantage of established expertise and experimental capabilities in both collaborating labs: S. Tsujino (mechano gemonics group, PSI) is an expert in micro-/nano-electronic devices (design, fabrication, and measurement) and ultrasound technology. R. Lim (Biozenturm and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute, Uni. Bas) is an expert in cell nanomechanics and nucleocytoplasmic transport. [1] B. Roy, L. Yuana, Y. Lee, A. Bharti, A. Mitra, and G. V. Shivashankar, Fibroblast rejuvenation by mechanical reprogramming and redifferentiation PNAS (2020); doi: 10.1073/pnas.1911497117 Your profile We offer you
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More information and the online application platform can be found at www.phd.nanoscience.ch. For questions please contact the head of the SNI PhD program, Dr. Andreas Baumgartner (andreas.baumgartner@unibas.ch), or directly the respective project leaders. The complete application has to be submitted before 31 December 2020. Please note that the decision to fill a given vacancy can be taken at any time from now. www.unibas.ch
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